


The Cat the Birds and the Spider

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: All The Randomness, Birds, But It's Not Really The Focus Here, Dialogue Heavy, Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker is Helping, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Randomness, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor, Tony Stark is helping, because that's what I do, cats stuck in trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-08-23 14:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20244679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Peter gets into a bit of asituationwhile on Patrol and comes to Tony for some assistance.  Of course, it can't ever be that easy.  Tony gives him a hard time and Peter, well, he doesn't actually mind too much.





	The Cat the Birds and the Spider

It was late one Saturday afternoon when Peter slinked into Tony's lab. He'd been out patrolling and had run into a bit of a _situation. _Not the terrible kind that ended in disaster but rather a minor set back that lead to him being in need of some assistance. Under any other circumstances, he would come bounding into Tony's workspace with a rapid explanation already falling from his smiling mouth. This time, however, he walked in looking sheepish and disheveled, leaving Tony feeling concerned rather than exasperated as usual.

"Kid? What happened? ...and oh my God is that blood in your hair?", the man asked in horror once Peter had cleared his throat to casually announce his presence. "Get over here!"

Slowly walking towards his mentor, Peter started to attempt some sort of justification for his appearance while assuring the man that he was fine. "I got a few scratches on the back of my head but they're already healing. I'm fine. Really.", Peter swore but Tony had already jumped up out of his chair and was running his fingers through his hair, parting it and combing it aside to get a good look at the wounds.

"What happened?", Tony stiffly asked again, realizing he'd yet to get any sort of statement from the boy. That in its self was odd. Typically Peter loved to talk about his patrols and to Tony's displeasure, his more adventurous mishaps. Whatever had happened this time was keeping the kid tight-lipped and that was worrisome.

"I didn't come here because I'm hurt.", Peter reiterated as he ducked out of his mentors still searching hands. "I need help with the suit. The mask... it's, well, it's a little bit torn up... I don't know how to fix it."

Satisfied that the kid wasn't about to bleed to death, Tony let out a deep sigh. "Let's see it then.", the said as he held out his hand in anticipation. Peter was been quick to hand it over and Tony was soon examining it with an unreadable expression crossing his face. "Kid... This is ripped to hell. How does something like that even happen?", he asked but when Peter pressed his lips into a tight line he decided to go another route. "...if you want me to replace it then I'm going to need a story and _I'm going to need it now_."

"Fine.", Peter breathed out, resigning himself to the fact that his mentor wasn't going to let it go. In fact, the man had him utterly convinced that he wasn't even going to attempt to start any repairs until he'd been given some sort of a play-by-play. So he reluctantly began... "It started out really simple. This lady who lives in the building beside mine has like seventeen cats. I'm not even exaggerating. Apparently, she adopts them from shelters and stuff. I think she's some sort of crazy cat lady but not in bad kind of way. She--"

"--Get to the point, kid.", Tony cut in with a roll of his eyes. All he wanted an explanation and Peter was getting off track. He was fairly sure that it was an intentional move in order to avoid doing so. That making Tony more curious than ever about what on Earth had conspired. 

"I am getting to the point! That was _background information._", Peter defended with a pout before continuing with a shake of his head. "Anyway, Crazy Cat Lady left her door open and three of the cats got out. Two of them were super easy to find because they were in the lobby of her building but the third one was gone and she was completely freaking out.", he added before looking up and smiling. "That's where I came in."

"Okay...", Tony said in slight confusion because he was still unclear on how chasing a cat led to a torn-up mask and several gashes to the scalp. "...you _are_ telling me about what happened to the mask, right?"

"Yes, Tony! I promise I'm getting to that part. It's, well, it's kind of a long story..."

"Better keep talking then.", Tony said, leaving the task he'd just started and seating himself on the lab couch in preparation for the tale. If it was going to be a long story, he may as well be comfortable for it. "Okay so, Crazy Cat Lady loses a cat... then what?"

"Then I went looking for it because it seemed like a friendly neighborhood kind of thing to do. ...and I like cats so that was sort of a bonus.", Peter started to explain with a shrug of his shoulders, Then, sat down beside him mentor on the couch, pulling one leg up so he could turn to face him fully. When Tony continued to look at him expectantly he decided he may as well go ahead and get the rest of the story over with. "So, I asked around and eventually a bunch of kids told me that they'd seen the cat go into the woods at that park near Myrtle Avenue and so I went after it."

"How did you even know whether or not it was the cat you were looking for?", Tony asked quizzically because he was pretty sure Queens, well, New York, in general, was full of cats. 

Peter sighed and held a hand up in mild annoyance. "I mean, I guess I didn't. ...but it turned out okay."

"So you actually found the right cat?"

"Of course I did! I'll get to that part in a minute.", Peter said, dropping his head back on the couch for a moment. Tony was already giving him a hard time and he hadn't even made it to the worst of it. The man was going to have an absolute field day with the next part. "I started into the woods and then something hit me in the back of the head. At first, I thought maybe something might've fallen out of a tree, like a pinecone or something but then when I turned around I saw a crow and--"

"--A crow?", Tony asked with a smile tugging at his lips. "Are you about to tell me that a crow flew into the back of your head?"

"Sort of, more like it _attacked me_", Peter clarified with a lopsided smile. "When I turned around it was already coming back, so I waved my hands around thinking that would make it go away. You know, like pigeons."

"How did that work out for you?", Tony asked with glee because he knew just enough about crows to know that had been an exceptionally bad idea. His thoughts were confirmed the second Peter intentionally dropped his gaze down the floor.

"It, it, uh actually _might have_ made it worse...", Peter replied, slightly flustered. "That seemed to make _all of them_ mad."

"All of them, huh...", Tony replied, still holding back the majority of the smile that was desperately trying to make an appearance on his face. He was sure he had never met any one person who got into as many absurd and genuinely hilarious situations as Peter did. The kid had _the worst luck_ and he _almost_ felt bad for enjoying it as much as he did.

"Well, several of them? I don't know how many there were!", Peter stressed, following it up with a small smile. He could tell that Tony was waiting for the right moment to give him a hard time. He nearly always did and to be fair, even he could admit that this particular series of events was somewhat ridiculous. "...either way, I had something like four or five of them dive-bombing me and the further I got into the woods the meaner they got."

"Mean? Did you just use the word mean to describe a bunch of birds?", Tony said finally cracking a real smile. 

Mildly glaring at his mentor who was now, predictively giving him a hard time, Peter, crossed his arms over his chest. "They started using their claws, Tony! _It hurt_...", he replied somewhat indignantly as the same man who had been so concerned about his injured head was now making light of it.

At that point, Tony was laughing despite the menacing look his mentee was still trying to send his way. "So, why didn't you just leave?", he asked once he could get the words out. 

"Oh!", Peter exclaimed as his glare turned back into a smile. "...because I saw the cat. It was further into the woods but I had to get past the crows to get to it. So I ran towards it as fast as I could but the stupid birds were chasing me. Loudly.", he explained with a smile as his hands flew about animatedly. However, his smile was short-lived when Tony's light laugh turned into a full-on cackle. "It's not funny, Tony!"

"It kind of is.", Tony insisted with a firm nod of his head. He could picture it in his head, the kid running through the trees, arms flailing as a handful of blackbirds flew after him. It sounded like something out of a cartoon. _Something that could only possibly happen to Peter._

Face growing serious, Peter went back to crossing his arms over his chest. "No, it's really not, Tony. Crows _eat_ spiders you know...", he practically whined which didn't help his situation any because that seemed to make the man laugh even more.

"I'm pretty sure they weren't out to eat you, kid.", the man finally replied once he was able to keep a straight face again. "They probably have nests in there."

Still _ever so slightly_ irritated by the fact that his mentor was taking so much pleasure in his plight, Peter, sighed. "Maybe. I didn't exactly have time to investigate seeing as I was _bleeding_, Tony."

"You're fine. You said so yourself.", Tony kindly pointed out. Of course, he had been alarmed when Peter had first walked in but at this point, he'd already thoroughly looked him over. The kid's healing factor was amazing. The large scrapes were nearly healed. The blood matted in the boy's hair had made it look far worse than it actually was. 

At this point, Peter felt the need to stand up and pace. Sometimes it was easier to explain things when he was moving. Then again, he was always moving. Even as he sat he had a toe tapping on the floor or his fingers drumming on the table. "Well, I didn't _know that_ at the time! All I knew was that I had an entire flock of birds attacking me for no reason and _my head was bleeding_.", Peter firmly stated, actively fighting back a small smile that really wanted to play on his lips. 

"Alright, alright. I get it, kid. So that's what happened to the mask? A bunch of birds?"

"Yes... and stop laughing!", Peter nearly shouted through his own smile. Just because he could see the humor in it didn't mean he was ready for everybody else too. 

Holding up his hands in defense, Tony took a deep breath in order to get himself under control. "Alright, I'm done. I swear. What next?"

Looking skeptically at the man because he seemed seconds from bursting out laughing again, Peter cautiously continued. "Eventually I had to duck down and cover my--Come on Tony...", Peter interjected when Tony did, in fact, start laughing again. This time so hard that he had to hold onto his stomach. "You said you were done!"

Tony took a moment to reel it in but he couldn't quite get that image out of his head. He was going to be getting that footage as soon as the kid left and was already making a mental list of who he was going to send it to. "Just keep going...", he insisted once he was back to quietly giggling.

"Fine.", Peter curtly replied with a roll of his eyes. "After they finally left, I crawled towards the tree the cat was stuck in."

Now, completely back to his usual calm and collected facade, it was Tony's turn to roll his eyes. "Cat's don't actually get stuck in trees, you do know that right, kid?", he asked blandly. 

That had Peter pausing in his steps. "I don't know, Tony... He looked pretty stuck to me...", Peter said, wavering slightly. He'd never really given it much thought. You always heard about cat's getting stuck in trees. It was common knowledge... _right?_

Smiling softly at the boy's innocence, Tony patted the cushion beside him to encourage Peter to come and sit back down. "Think about it, Pete. Have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree?", he asked with one eyebrow quirked in question.

Peter took a moment to contemplate his answer as he settled back down beside Tony. "Well, no... but--"

"--That's because they're literally designed to get up _and down_ trees.", Tony explained as if it should have been obvious from the start but when Peter continued to look at him doubtingly, he continued. "I promise it could get down. ... could have probably found its way home too."

Giving in to the fact that the man _could have been _right, Peter sighed. "I was being _nice_, Tony, and he _looked_ stuck." 

Suddenly feeling somewhat bad that he'd basically burst the kid's bubble, Tony reached over to pat him on the knee. "Okay so after your_ great act of heroism_, saving the _stranded_ cat... then what happened?"

"Then I had to get past the birds again...", Peter said bringing that same look of mirth back to his mentors face. "Tony! Stop smiling!"

"You already told me not to laugh, Kid. I can't smile either?", Tony asked with amusement.

"No.", Peter returned sounding irritated but the smile forming on his own face said otherwise. He really hadn't expected the man to react any other way.

"No promises, kiddo. How did you get out?"

"I thought maybe if I was really quiet and went the long way around they wouldn't notice me--"

"--But they did didn't they. ...because Crows don't forget _anything_. They can hold a grudge _for years_.", Tony interjected with a smile. That was one of those weird little bits of trivia that remained stored in his brain. A fact that he'd never expected to gain any benefit from knowing... _until now._

Wrinkling his brow, Peter gave his mentor a dubious look. "Really?"

"_Really. _ You can look it up later. ... now, keep going.", Tony replied with a smile as he waved his hand in a circular motion to get the boy talking again. 

"Well, they started swooping at my head again so I ran. It wasn't as bad going out. I returned the cat to Crazy Cat Lady and came straight here.", Peter rapidly finished before laying his hands in his lap. "That's the whole story. _Now_ can you help me with the mask?"

Tony grinned and wrapped an arm around the kid. "Actually I started fabricating a brand new one before I sat down. It should be done in the next twenty or so."

"If you were going to do it anyway then why did you make me tell you what happened?", Peter asked, pulling out of the man's grasp so that he could look at him through squinted eyes.

"Mostly because you _wouldn't_ and that was weird.", Tony replied with a laugh. "You usually talk my ear off about everything that happens to you while you're out spidering."

"I do not.", Peter said as he turned to _graciously_ allow the man to place his arm around his shoulder's again.

"Sure, Kid.", Tony murmured as his hand came back up to the kid's hair and started tugging though the knots and feeling around for any remaining evidence of injury. "You sure your head's alright?"

"Mm-hmm, it's fine, Tony.", Peter assured, leaning into the man's side with a sigh. 

"Well, come here and I'll show you how I set up the new mask.", Tony said softly as he urged Peter to rise to his feet so they could cross the room. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Can we get pizza?", Peter asked happily.

Now grinning ear to ear because that had been the exact response he'd wanted to hear, Tony replied, "Sure we can order from that new place that opened last week... I hear people have been _raven_ about it."

Rolling his eyes, Peter took the last few steps required to stand directly beside his smiling mentor. "You've been just waiting for a chance to say that haven't you...", he asked defeatedly as Tony again wrapped his arm around his shoulders and squeezed.

"Yep", Tony answered with a smile

"...and you're going to _keep_ bringing this up aren't you.", Peter asked, already knowing full well what the answer was. The man wasn't going to let this go... until something else happened... then he wouldn't let _that go_... wash, rinse, repeat.

Already coming up with more ways to mess with the kid about it, Tony laughed. "Every chance I get, kid."

Peter sighed having already resigned himself to the teasing. As much as he _acted_ like it bothered him, it really didn't. He actually kind of_ enjoyed it._ So, he just smiled and looked at the man beside him. "Thanks for fixing the mask, Tony."

Tony smiled back and ruffled the boy's hair. "Any time, kiddo", he said before his smile faltered a bit. "Well, maybe not _anytime_... If you could avoid getting attacked by, well, _anything_ in the future that would be ideal."

"I'll see what I can do.", Peter deadpanned as he watched the mask seemingly sew its self together right before his eyes. He would sure he would never stop being fascinated by Tony's endless technology. 

"Good because you can't keep wandering in here injured like that. I'm old and you're going to give me a heart attack..."

"You're not old, Tony.", Peter scoffed in response. "You're like, middle-aged at best."

Huffing a laugh, Tony turned to face Peter with as much of a straight face as he could maintain at the moment. "I have a heart condition, kid."

"You'll be fine.", Peter assessed with a laugh and wave of his hand. "You've said so yourself. ...many times."

Tony smiled, mostly because the kid was right, he had said that many, many times. "Just promise me you'll stay out of the woods, yeah?", he said before breaking into a small laugh. "The last thing I need is for you to get attacked by a bear."

"I don't think there are any bears in those woods, Tony."

"Kid... if there was? It would find you. I promise."

"Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence."

"Any time.", Tony said before grabbing the mask out of the machine that it had been woven it and thrust it into Peter's hands. "Look, your mask is done, now let's go order some pizza. I'm hungry."

"Sounds awesome.", Peter replied in earnest because he was hungry. Running for your life from a bunch of extremely angry birds could take a lot out of you. 

Tony grinned and led Peter towards the elevator so that they could head up to the penthouse where they often ate dinner together. "I think you meant caw-some."

"Right.", Peter said with a small smile and a roll of his eyes. "Was that it? Are you done now?"

"Nope. I have _loads more_ where that came from.", Tony assured with a firm pat to the boy's shoulder.

Once they had arrived in Tony's living room, Peter sat down on the couch while his mentor placed a quick order. Then as soon as the man was sitting beside him again, Peter took a pause from flipping through the channels and looked over at him. "You know? I think I would like to go back to you giving me a hard time about getting mustard on my suit."

"Oh. I can do both. Don't worry.", Tony laughed and Peter wondered if he'd ever seen the man laugh as much as he had in the last hour. It was sort of nice. ...even if it was at his expense. 

Nodding his head and attempting to sound unaffected, Peter replied easily. "Glad I can keep you entertained."

"Oh, me too! Don't know what I would do without you kid." _Be completely bored all the time_, _Probably_, Tony thought to himself as he tried to remember what his life was life before Peter.

"Honestly? I don't know what I would do without you either.", Peter replied in seriousness but rather than taking it as a compliment, Tony smiled in mirth.

"You'd have mustard stains all over a torn-up red and blue onesie, more than likely."

Once again rolling his eyes, Peter sighed contentedly as he scooted himself closer to the man's side because this was what Tony Stark caring about him looked like and he was more than willing to accept that. Tony was everything he didn't know he'd been missing until he had it. A mentor, a friend and the closest thing he'd had to a father in a long time. So, rather than fight it, he shook his head and laughed. "Whatever you say, Tony." 

**Author's Note:**

> Phew! The ending of this particular story gave me a really, really hard time. I didn't think I would ever figure out how to wrap it up and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it. 
> 
> As such I may go back and fix it later... who knows.


End file.
